Tara VanDerveer, basketball trailblazer in Bay Area and beyond, looks back

If you want to find the winningest coach in the history of NCAA college basketball look no further than Maples Pavilion on the Stanford campus. Tara VanDerveer, the recently retired head coach of Stanford women’s basketball, earned 1,216 victories and three NCAA titles over the course of her nearly five-decade career — a remarkable run.

VanDerveer’s obsession with basketball started young. In the 1960s in upstate New York, where she grew up, there were no girls’ leagues, so VanDerveer played with the boys, which frustrated her. She wanted a league of her own.

VanDerveer found that league in college, playing for the University at Albany and then Indiana University, where in her sophomore year the team made it to the Final Four of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women championship. While at IU, she also enrolled in legendary coach Bobby Knight’s coaching classes , observing his practices and learning from one of the best.

With a sociology degree in hand and an eye toward law school, VanDerveer took a year off and — with a little nudging from her parents — began coaching her little sister’s high-school basketball team. It was the start of a storied career. Beginning as an assistant coach at Ohio State, she then became head coach at the University of Idaho before returning to the Buckeyes as head coach in 1980, where she led the team to a national ranking.

With an anemic record, Stanford came calling in 1985, and VanDerveer took a chance — and took the job. Five years later, the Cardinal (and their coach) clinched their first national championship, beating powerhouse Auburn University.

Over her nearly 40-year career at Stanford, VanDerveer led the team to three national championships and 14 Final Four berths. She also coached the U.S. Olympic team won gold in 1996 , the first of seven straight first-place finishes for the American women. (The U.S. begins its bid for an eighth consecutive gold on July 29, three days after the opening ceremonies in Paris.)

As VanDerveer packed up her Stanford office, surrounded by stacked boxes overflowing with decades of memories, I sat with the unassuming legend, reminiscing about the past and looking toward the future.

Do you remember the first time you touched a basketball? I don’t remember exactly. I remember in gym class [in the third or fourth grade] we did what they call a three-player weave. And I’m like, God, this is really fun, and just kind of fell in love with basketball. But it was very frustrating because the boys had a fifth-grade team, a sixth-grade team, a junior-high team, a freshman team, a JV team and a varsity team. And through all of it, when playing with the guys, I was better than them, and it was frustrating.

I bet. It was almost like a love-hate relationship. I love basketball, but I hated it because of the pain it caused me. My parents, when I was growing up, had a [gravel] driveway, so we never had a hoop. I’d go next door, and I would know they didn’t want me [to play] when they put the car right under the hoop. Then I’d go to another one in my neighborhood. There were a lot of them.

That’s funny. We moved when I was 15, in the middle of my sophomore year, and I was so angry and upset. My parents thought, well, at Christmas — now we had a paved driveway — we’ll put a hoop up. And I’m like, “No, don’t do it for me. I’m too old. That’s it. I’m 15. Basketball is over.” And I was so stubborn that I don’t think I even shot a ball at that hoop, just because it was so painful to love to play and want to play on a team.

I watched your farewell press conference when you announced your retirement . You said even though you didn’t have the experience of playing in a league as a young girl, you envisioned that women’s basketball was going to be big one day. How did you know that? I know. I don’t know how I knew this. I remember being on this court by myself, and I would be out there shooting for, I’m talking six, seven hours. I’d be at the free throw line and I was like, “OK, I’m in a big arena, and there’s a crowd. The score is we’re down one, and I got to make two free throws.” I had these scenarios. ... When I was at Indiana, [my teammates and I] would sit in our apartment, and we’d talk about some day there’s going to be scholarships for girls. Someday there’s going to be a pro league. ... And I believed it. I saw it coming.

What got you interested in coaching? Well, I majored in sociology. I planned to go to law school. But I said, “I’m going to take a year off.”

I went home. My parents lived in Niagara Falls, and they were excited: Tara’s home for Christmas. And after Christmas, they’re like, “Well, what are you doing?” I’m like, “Well, nothing.” And my dad goes, “Oh, no. You’re going to go down and help coach your sister’s team.”

I had a sister that’s five years younger, and they just put in Title IX, but their teacher didn’t really want to coach. They had lost the night before, 99 to 11. I’m like, “Dad, I’m not going down there.” And he’s like, “Yes, you are.” I did, and I really liked it. You know how you learn lessons in any situation? I learned two lessons that were really important my very first year with my sister, Marie. I love my sister, but she was never out in the driveway shooting. ... She was a really good athlete, but she wasn’t a basketball player.

I get home after the game — of course, we probably lost — and my mom would say, “Well, how come you didn’t play Marie more?” I’m like, “Mom, Marie can’t shoot.” And she goes, “But she’s so nice.” I realize, number one, parents are unrealistic. They see things through a different lens than coaches do. And then two, everyone on every team is someone’s sister.

Thirty-nine years ago you were coaching at Ohio State, which had a nationally ranked basketball team. We did. We did.

You made the decision to come to Stanford, which had a pretty dismal record. Yep, first year.

What intrigued you about this place? Stanford to me was the ultimate challenge because you have to have academic kids. I met with the assistant dean of admissions, and he said, “Tara, you need to find basketball players that can jump through the same academic hoops as other admits.” And I was thinking, “I need basketball players that can put it through the hoop!”

I was offered the job, and I said no [at] first. The athletic director at the time, Andy Geiger, called me and said, “Tara, why won’t you take the job?” And I said, “I don’t feel like I know enough about Stanford.” He said, “Come back.” He didn’t take no for an answer.

The first year we were about .500. But I loved it. I loved the players. I loved riding my bike on Campus Drive, seeing the church and beautiful palm trees. And I knew that we were going to be good. We won a national championship in five years. I met with my assistants. I said, “We have three priorities. Number one, recruit. Number two, recruit. Number three, recruit. Goodbye.”

We had to go out and get players, and we did. We got Jennifer Azzi, Katy Steding. ... The first class had two Olympians in it. It was pretty good.

How would you describe your coaching philosophy, and how has it changed over the years? I was asked in a job interview to describe my coaching philosophy. I said, “Work.” And I was asked by players on the team, and they kind of looked at me like I had two heads. I said, “Would you like me to elaborate?” And they said, “Yes.” I said, “Hard work.”

I really put everything into it. ... I was never the best player on any team I played on. I’ve never been. I don’t think I’m ever the smartest one in the room. I hire smart people. I’m so intrigued by the game that I’m always interested and curious. I ask a lot of questions, and I’m a great copier. I don’t have to invent something; I can watch you do it. We will run plays of other teams if they are really good. Our team will go, “Oh, that’s just like Penn State’s play.” I’m like, “Yeah, it is.”

No shame there. Well, in basketball you don’t have patents. You can steal anything. I’m very good at that.

What are some of the highlights and challenges of your career, and how did you overcome those challenges? A highlight would probably surprise you. One of my favorite things was one of my players that was a challenge to recruit. But when she came to Stanford, I got to know her very well. And she called me one hour after she had her first baby. I went to her wedding, and I am still in touch with her — Olympia Scott. She was just a really fun person to get to know and coach.

Another player I just talked to, I was roommates with her mother in college. I coached her and she was a handful — Ros Gold-Onwude. And so I would say to her, “I knew you before you were born. Pass the ball,” or whatever. I think the highlight is the relationship that you have with these players . I have an incredible circle of friends, former coaches. Coaches in the old days were friends. Now they’re really not because they’re poaching each other’s players.

The challenges — I always say, sometimes your strengths can be your weaknesses. I think that [with] my intensity and passion, sometimes I was probably harder on players than they could take at the time. I don’t even know how many players I’ve coached — hundreds? It’s just probably the bell curve. If you have great relationships with some, medium relationships and then poor, you would like that bell curve to shift over more. I would say it is disappointing when you can’t connect in a way that you want to.

Then you have parents. I mean, I try to understand parents from the get-go, but they’re so unrealistic about their children. But some parents are very realistic, and I’m friends with them.

If there were a game you could coach over again, does one come to mind? No one’s ever asked me that question — I love it. The most painful loss I’ve ever experienced was the game we lost to Old Dominion in the Final Four . We were up 17 or 18 in the first half, and somehow that game got away from us.

But this is a weird thing. We lost that game, and our team was devastated. It takes me back there now. It was so painful. But we were in Cincinnati, and from there I went home to my parents, and my dad was dying of cancer. I got to spend time with a dying parent that I wouldn’t have spent, probably, if we’d won and come back to California.

There’s always the silver lining. I know. A fun game to coach again? I would have to say there’d be a lot of them. One game we played Arkansas, and we scored, I think it was 124 points. It was unbelievable.

We came out. We had played a very poor game the game before. This was to go to the Final Four — this was the first time Stanford ever went to the Final Four — and I was really mad at our team. I’m like, “OK, you guys just pack up. Go to Hawaii, go to Southern California. We’re not going to win.” I was furious. If we won, we got to go to Tennessee for our first national championship, and Jennifer Azzi [was] from Tennessee. When I came into the gym, the greeter handed me a little scrap of yellow legal pad from Jennifer. It said, “Tara, relax. This one’s for you.” And it was. I put it in my pocket. I kept it. That’s in the scrapbook.

So what happened? We blasted this team. We ran this team out of the gym. We’re dancing with the band. I’m thinking nothing can feel better than this. Now we’re going to the Final Four. I got there, and I thought, “Well, we’re here. Why don’t we just win it? Who knows if we’ll ever come back?” And we won it in 1990.

This has been a banner year for women’s basketball , with everyone watching Caitlin Clark and Cameron Brink and Kiki Iriafen. Can we keep the momentum up, or is it based on star players? Well, we have star players. There are great players, but we need the help of media and social media to become ... like Caitlin Clark became, a household name, which was awesome.

But there have been players before Caitlin Clark, and we’ve had great TV audiences for players like Jennifer Azzi or Lisa Leslie. I think we just have to continue to promote these great players.

Lots of changes in college sports. NIL — name, image and likeness. What is that going to do to college sports? It’s very interesting. I’m very much in favor of NIL. The purest of NIL. When Nike comes to you and says, “Hey, I want to sponsor you.” New Balance comes to you and says, “Hey, do an advertisement like Cam did.” And that, to me, is NIL — name, image and likeness.

Collectives are different. Collectives are basically rich donors saying, “We want to buy a team.” And they are able to contact players during the year. We don’t have the tampering rule that the pros have, and we don’t have a salary cap. Now it is a cash grab. I don’t know that it’s sustainable, number one. And it’s going up exponentially. Two years ago, in ’22-23, a male player might get $50,000. Now it’s up to $2 million or more.

I’ve heard you say that Stanford going to the ACC did not affect your decision to retire. What do you think about that? Well, I’m heartbroken that the Pac-12 has imploded . I think it’s incredibly sad. And I’m really excited that we won the regular season Pac-12 championship.

But to me it doesn’t make sense what we’re doing in terms of the cross-country. I’m thankful that we’re playing in a league, and I’m excited as a fan to play [in] this great competition. But to me, it’s all about football, television, money and the reconfiguring of the media-rights deals. But we’re fortunate to be in the All Coast Conference, ACC. We’re excited about that.

When I was coaching and playing as a young coach, we would be on a bus for 11 or 12 hours. I mean, that was routine. The charter flight back to the East Coast, that to me is not the deal-breaker. But I do think that it is not sustainable in the long run. For years and years and years, the Pac-12 was a 100-year conference, and to see that destroyed so quickly, I think it is all about greed.

We know what you gave to basketball. What did basketball give to you? Oh, a great life. A great life. A pinch-yourself life. Magical experience of working [at] Stanford or Ohio State or Idaho. Great friends. I mean, I might have had this vision of the fans coming or being on television or scholarships, but I couldn’t have ever even asked for the happiness that it’s provided me. I mean, it’s a game, but it’s my life.

What’s next? I know you’re going to stay here as an advisor at Stanford, but you’ll certainly have more time on your hands now that you’re not coaching. Retirement. Retirement is busier than ever. It’s new and exciting. I am excited about being at Stanford. I wasn’t ready to just be totally away. I feel like I have a lot of institutional knowledge.

I think the number one thing is I want to be a resource, a coach’s coach. I worked with someone this year as my coach, and it was incredibly valuable. I want to be a resource and a contributor to a young coach. ... And then the other half of my position is in development because all these projects are very costly. I believe totally in Stanford and the experience at Stanford and want to encourage people to contribute to a great thing. ... Those are two things, but that’s half-time. I’ve been asked to do podcasts, write two books and a possible movie about the Olympic team. And my idea is to have Caitlin Clark play in it. That would be kind of fun.

Why is Kate Paye the right choice as your successor? Number one, she will outwork anyone. I say “work,” and she can double down on that. She is a worker, and she is all in on basketball, and she has great rapport with players. She is super-organized. Look at her office compared to mine. She is neat, neat, neat. I mean, she is brilliant. I think one other thing is she’s had the opportunity to learn from all my mistakes. She’s going to be fabulous. This is a hard time, so she’s an absolute right choice.

This interview originally ran in the Nob Hill Gazette. It has been condensed and edited for clarity.